


A Rose by Any Other Name

by NeapolitanGirls



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Bit of Angst at the end probably, Fluff, M/M, Might change the name of this later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 08:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16783516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeapolitanGirls/pseuds/NeapolitanGirls
Summary: Will had a problem. He couldn’t stop staring at the mysterious dark-haired guy who sat next to him in English. He couldn’t ever seem to focus on whatever rant their teacher Mrs. Flora was going on and if this kept up he was going to fail this class for sure but the guy was just so much more interesting than Shakespeare.





	1. See you Later

Will had a problem. He couldn’t stop staring at the mysterious dark-haired guy who sat next to him in English. He couldn’t ever seem to focus on whatever rant their teacher Mrs. Flora was going on and if this kept up he was going to fail this class for sure but the guy was just so much more interesting than Shakespeare. 

His messy black hair and dark brooding eyes stood out against his pale skin. Although he was handsome his face was always pulled into a scowl that made him look a bit unapproachable. The mystery guy often dozed off in class but Mrs. Flora always made sure to tap on his desk to keep him awake and Will had a feeling she had a soft spot for him. Though the guy still didn’t look like he ever paid attention at all. Will often watched as he stared out the window with a far off look in his eye. Sometimes he let that scowl go as he watched the trees out the window. He seemed sad for some reason and it was bothering Will more than it should.

And then he noticed that they had the same lunch hour, right before English. His eyes drifted over to the corner where sad mystery guy sat. He was alone and as far as Will could tell he never even ate the lunch in front of him. He poked at it and maybe took one bite and then threw it away and left to go to class. Not only was it a waste of food but the guy already looked on the thin side. If he didn’t start eating more he might just disappear.

Maybe he should stop concerning himself with the health state of someone who he didn’t know (and maybe he should stop staring at said someone) but he just couldn’t let it go. After all, he was trying to become a future doctor and shouldn’t that mean caring about people he didn’t know yet. He got it into his head that he was supposed to help this mysterious guy if it was the last thing he did but first he needed to learn the guy’s name.

“Hey do you know that guy?” He leaned over to ask his friend Lou Ellen and pointed at mystery guy.

“Oh uh yeah! I think his name is Nico.” Lou looked back at Will with a glint in her eye. “Why do you ask? You got a crush Solace?” She giggled when she saw the slight blush on his cheeks. “You so do!”

“Aw, Will if you have a crush you got to tell us. It’s the cost of friendship.” Kayla teased him from across the table. He felt his blush deepen “Shut up guys, I was just curious. He always seems so sad in class and…” He felt himself frown thinking about how sad Nico had looked the day before. “I thought maybe I could help.”

“You’re too nice Solace. He doesn’t exactly look like he wants to be bothered.”

“I think I heard something about his sister dying a few weeks back though. It was a car crash or something.”

“Oh man, Poor guy.”

“I can’t imagine how that feels.”

Will tuned out the rest of his friends for the rest of lunch. Nico only ate two bites before throwing the rest away. When he saw him again in class he didn’t even pretend to be listening. He couldn’t tell if it was because of his crush fascination with Nico in particular or his natural habit of worrying about everyone but he had to try and help him.

The next time at lunch he didn’t even bother sitting down at his usual table. His friends could survive a day without eating next to him. Instead, he walked over to Nico’s lonely table with his plate in hand.

“Hey, are you okay?” He realized it was a stupid question as soon as it left his lips. He flinched when he saw the deadly scowl Nico gave him. He really should have thought of something to say beforehand but he was just so focused on actually getting the courage to walk over he just ended up blurting out the first question he thought of.

“I’m just fucking peachy” He was surprised at the language but tried to salvage the conversation with a smile. 

“Sorry that was a stupid question. I’m Will Solace.” Will held out his hand and after a moment Nico begrudgingly took it. His hands were shockingly cold.

“Nico di Angelo” Will took that as an invitation to sit down but he was met with that same scowl from before. Did this kid ever smile?

“Shouldn’t you go back to your own table?” He gave Will the coldest glare he has ever gotten but he was determined not to be scared off now. He gave Nico his brightest smile and put his head in his hands.

“No, I kinda wanted to stay and talk to you.” Nico looked at him like the idea of Will talking to him was the craziest idea in the world.

“Why?”

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s weird.” Will almost didn’t know what to say to that. This guy was the one who sat here all alone every day. Out of the two of them, Nico was the weird one.

“I’m weird?”

“Yeah, You’re super weird.” He couldn’t help a chuckle at Nico’s puzzled expression.

“I could say the same for you,” He glanced down at Nico’s still full plate.” and anyway I just wanted to make sure you actually ate something. You’ll starve if you just live on one bite a day.” Nico seemed more confused than ever.

“Why do you care? Have you been watching me?” Will felt his face heat up at the accurate assumption. He only just realized how creepy his constant watching of the other boy was. Maybe Nico was right he was the weird one. 

“I just wanted to make sure my fellow classmate is eating healthy. Is that so strange?” It was a weak excuse but it wasn’t a lie. He came over here because he was concerned. That’s all. 

“Yes. Yeah, it kinda is” His face felt like it was on fire. It was probably a bad idea to come over here even if it was well-meaning. “If I eat will you leave me alone?” Nico was still glaring at him but even though he had thoroughly embarrassed himself he didn’t want to stop talking to Nico. Bad idea or not he wasn’t just going to turn tail and leave.

“Maybe… Maybe not” Nico glared at Will as he stabbed a fork full of his lunch and ate it. Will felt his smile grow as he started eating part of his own lunch as well. “See it’s not so bad.”

Nico took another bite as he said “So you’re not going to leave?” 

Will thought about it. He knew he was probably bothering Nico but he was starting to warm up to his cold scowl. Maybe if he could just befriend him he wouldn’t be so sad. If he didn’t Nico would just continue sitting here all alone. So, he smiled and shook his head. Nico scowled again but Will just continued smiling. He wasn’t about to give up on the gloomy boy before him.

“You smile too much.”

“You scowl too much.” 

He watched as Nico grumbled to himself and took one last bite before pushing his plate towards Will and getting up to leave. Will felt a little bothered but remembered he had English next and called after him.

“See you later, Nico” Despite the cold exit of the other Will felt a little hopeful. He was going to make this work. He picked up the rest of Nico’s food and walked back over to his friends. They teased him about leaving to talk to his mystery guy but they forgave him when he offered the extra food. English was going to be interesting.


	2. Partners

Will couldn’t help the smile that came to his face when he saw Nico at his usual seat in the back. He didn’t notice Will right next to him as usual and looked like he was about to drift off when Will decided to tap him on the shoulder.  
  
“Hi again.” He waved as Nico looked at him with surprise. He then turned it into that cold glare that Will just smiled at. He was almost a little hurt that Nico didn’t even know Will was in this class even though he has been sitting next to him since the beginning of school but it wasn’t surprising. Nico never seemed to pay attention in class.  
  
The rest of the class seemed like an odd role reversal. Will could feel Nico’s stare and silently prayed that Nico never felt this awkward all those days in the past when he was the one staring. He wanted to look over at him. To see those dark eyes with his own blue ones. He forced himself to pay attention to class and only caved once when he just couldn’t take it anymore. After a while, he felt that stare disappear and Will finally felt like he could breathe.  
  
“You’ll need to get into pairs.” Mrs. Flora had been explaining their next project and was very excited about it. “I’ll let you choose and you can spend the rest of the class to discuss among yourselves.” She looked over the entire class and stopped when she reached Nico who was staring out the window and obviously not paying attention. She glanced back at Will and smiled. ”I am looking forward to what you all can make together.”  
  
He felt the slight blush rise to his cheeks. He had always felt like Mrs. Flora had noticed his fascination with Nico but just never said anything. Not anything specific anyway. She had actually pulled him aside after he failed their last test and told him how he seemed so distracted during class. She then went on a rant that he couldn’t follow before he promised to try harder.  
  
“Make sure you do Romeo.”  
  
He glanced around the room to see that everyone had already paired off. Nico was still staring out the window and still wasn’t paying attention to anything.  
  
“Do you want to be partners?” Nico didn’t seem to hear him. He seemed lost in thought and Will wondered for the thousandth time what he could possibly be thinking about. “Nico?” This time he made sure to speak a bit louder.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I asked if you want to be partners.” He gave a soft smile at Nico’s obvious confusion. Nico sighed in frustration.  
“Partners for what?”  
  
“For the project. Weren’t you paying any attention? What were you doing?” Will felt his grin widen as Nico grew a slight blush in embarrassment. He knew what he had been doing. He had been practically searing a hole in Will’s head for the past half hour.  
  
“Yeah, um… sure I guess we can be partners. What is it on again?”  
  
“It’s on Shakespeare.”  
  
“Of course it is.” Will could hear the annoyance in Nico’s voice even before he saw his scowl. He couldn't help but laugh.  
  
“Don’t appreciate the classics?” he teased.  
  
“I can’t say I’m a fan”  
  
“Well, don’t let Mrs. Flora hear you say that. She might kick us out of her class for the rest of the year. Though that might not be so bad.” He saw Nico almost smile and it felt like an achievement. So close.  
  
“What exactly are we supposed to do on this Shakespeare project?”  
  
“I don’t think it’s due until next week but we are supposed to pick a play and I guess either perform a scene or make a poster or something and I think there is an essay as well.”  
  
“It sounds like you weren’t paying attention either.” Will rolled his eyes at that.  
  
“I did,” He leaned back into his chair. “More than you at least.” and I only missed stuff because you were staring at me all hour.  
  
“Well, I guess we have a week to figure out what we’re doing.”  
  
“Want to get together to work on it tomorrow?”  
  
“Sure. Whatever.”  
  
Will couldn’t help the smile that seemed plastered on his face for the rest of the day. Nico had warmed up to him just a bit. He could tell that they were going to be friends in no time and maybe he would get to see Nico’s full smile one day.


	3. Juliet

Will realized that he didn’t actually know where he and Nico were supposed to meet while he was putting on his uniform in the morning. He thought about trying to find his room right now but thought better. He also might be able to find him at breakfast after all.  
  
He didn’t have any luck. He didn’t see that messy black hair anywhere. He felt that familiar weight of worry settle in his mind. If Nico was going all day without any food at all it was a miracle he wasn’t skin and bones by now. He sighed as he took his seat next to Lou Ellen.  
  
“Finally decided to grace us with your presence.” Kayla bowed her head and Austin chuckled at Will’s irritated look.  
  
“It was only one lunch. You guys can survive without me.”  
  
“But who would be left to keep us out of trouble.” Cecil grinned.  
  
“Or make sure we eat our veggies” Austin added.  
  
“You guys still get in trouble with me here. No thanks to you Cec.” Will rolled his eyes. “And I can’t promise I’m not gonna leave you in a bit.”  
  
“What? Don’t tell me you’re going to swoon over that moody Italian again.” He saw Lou’s smile grow bigger. “Aw, Is our boy in loooove?” Everyone joined in with a chorus of ohhhh as they all stared expectantly at Will.  
  
“Wh- No It’s about our class project in English.” He tried to hide his flushed face and failed.  
  
“You’re going to go hunt him down so you can talk about Shakespeare?”  
  
“You gonna be Romeo or Juliet?”  
  
“God, you guys are the worst.” Will talked with them a bit more before heading out the door early. He picked up a poptart for Nico on the way. He was going to fix this kid's eating schedule if it meant force feeding him poptarts daily.  
  
He decided to check the dorms first. He struggled to remember if he had seen Nico come out of any of the doors before. He had checked a few before he finally saw the glare of the dark eyes he wanted.  
  
“Hi again.”  
  
“Wha-What are you doing here?” Nico looked flustered and Will couldn’t help but smile.  
  
“Well, I couldn’t find you at breakfast so I thought I should bring you something.” He held up the poptart but Nico just stared at his hand. “Aw, come on. I’m not actually going to have to force you to eat one poptart am I.”  
  
“I don’t eat breakfast.”  
  
“It’s the most important meal of the day.” He waved the poptart around and tried to sound serious but Nico’s cute confused expression just pulled his smile wider.  
  
“Why are you so obsessed with feeding me? Are you trying to fatten me up so you can eat me or something?” Will gave an irritated huff. It was a poptart, not a death wish.  
  
“I’m only trying to help. You’re like skin and bones. It’s creepy.” He was trying to help and it wouldn’t be so hard if Nico just accepted it. “You’re going to fade away if you keep skipping meals like this.”  
  
“I’m creepy? You’re the one that just randomly showed up at my room. How did you even know this was mine?”  
  
“For god sakes Nico we live in the same dorm. I’m like five doors down.” He decided not to mention the time it took to actually find it. It probably wouldn’t help and Nico finally takes the poptart so no need. It was then that he actually looked Nico over since he opened the door.  
  
He was still in his pajamas and his hair was way messier than usual. He looked like he just woke up and it was completely adorable but it was almost time for class to start. There was no way he had time to get ready. Will himself was probably going to be a bit late. “Why aren’t you dressed yet? Class is in a few minutes.”  
  
“I’m not going.” He takes a bite “I’m sick.” It was true that Nico looked pale and a bit tired but he always looked like that. Before Will could think better of it he reaches his hand up to Nico’s forehead to feel for a fever.  
  
“You don’t feel sick?” Nico turns away and walks into his room.  
  
“Well, I am. Close the door on your way out.” When he sits on his bed Will notices that he finished the poptart but his worry was far from gone.  
  
“Shouldn’t you go to the nurse?”  
  
“It’s not that bad. I’ll just sleep in and I’ll probably be fine tomorrow.” He was about to say ‘If it’s not that bad then you should go to class’ but then he remembered why he came here in the first place.  
  
“Do you still want me to come after class to work on that project or are you too sick for Shakespeare?”  
  
“I’m always too sick for Shakespeare but you can still come if you want.”  
  
“Okay, See you later” He was still worried but smiled and waved as he left.  
  
He thought about their next meeting the entire day. Under his excitement, he was still worried. He couldn’t help it. Nico may not have actually been sick but he was still not taking very good care of himself. His friends would probably tell him to quit mothering the guy but he couldn’t just not worry. Not when he still looked so sad and tired all the time.  
  
He managed to wait all day before going back to Nico’s room. When he didn’t get an answer to his first few knocks he could feel himself start to get a bit worried. Maybe Nico didn’t want to be bothered after all or maybe he was actually sick. His anxiety was swept away as soon as he turned his head to see Nico coming down the hall.  
  
“I thought you said you were sleeping in.”  
  
“I decided to cut in some studying. I didn’t want to waste the whole day.” Will felt a little ridiculous but mostly relieved that Nico hadn’t bailed as he thought. When Nico opened the door he followed right after but then didn’t really know what to do. Nico sat down at his bed but Will suddenly felt nervous at the idea of sitting so close to him. Nico had apparently noticed because he rolled his eyes at his hesitation.  
  
“You can sit down. I’m not gonna bite you.” He felt better now that he had been invited but there was still a buzz of nervousness as he set down his bag and sat down.  
  
“So, what was this project about again?”  
  
“Your favorite guy, Shakespeare.” Will leaned against the wall so he was more comfortable. “We need to pick a play first.”  
  
“Right. Okay…. um… How about Hamlet?”  
  
“Hm” Will didn’t really remember what Hamlet was about and he didn’t really want to. He thought back to the morning when his friends were all teasing him. Doing Romeo and Juliet sounded fun actually. It was the one play he kinda enjoyed. “What about Romeo and Juliet?” Nico looked at him puzzled and Will realized how stupid he was. He should have just said yes to Hamlet. He was just freaking out about sitting too close to Nico and now he was suggesting they do a famously romantic play together. He couldn’t back down now though. He already said it. “What? Don’t like romance?”  
  
“It’s a tragedy, not a romance,” Oh right. That made things better he guessed. “And everyone is probably picking that one.” Also right. If Will was had any sense now would be the time to suggest something else.  
  
“So? Everyone is probably also picking Hamlet. It’ll be easy. We could do one of the fight scenes or something.” Clearly, he didn’t have any sense.  
  
“Why choose Romeo and Juliet if you’re just going to do a fight scene?”  
  
“What scene do you want to do?” At first, Nico didn’t say anything. Will looked over and saw that his face was bright red and for a moment he thought Nico might suggest one of the more romantic parts of the play. The idea made his own face heat up a bit. Yeah, he definitely didn’t have any sense.  
  
“W-well, I don’t really care that much as long as we can get this done.” Nico turned his head away but Will could still see the blush. “You pick.”  
  
“Umm…” He really didn’t trust himself to pick and right now he had to stop himself from picturing the balcony scene with Nico as Juliet. He shook his head to get rid of the heat in his cheeks. If it weren’t for his tan skin he might be as red as Nico. “This might be easier if we had a copy.”  
  
“Ugh, we can get one tomorrow. I don’t really want to walk back over to the library right now.” Nico moved back to lean against the headboard of his bed. His toes hit Will’s knees before he pulled them in to sit cross-legged.  
  
“But you’re ok with Romeo and Juliet?”  
  
“Why do you want to do Romeo and Juliet so much? There are much more interesting plays.”  
  
“I like Romeo and Juliet. It’s romantic.” In truth, Will had a soft spot for romance. He thought it was sweet. Even if it ended tragically, that only made it tragically sweet.  
  
“It’s really not. There is no way either of them were actually in love.”  
  
“How would you know?”  
  
“They barely knew each other!”  
  
“It was love at first sight, Nico!” Will chuckled at Nico’s frustrated face. Nico was a lot cuter than he realized.  
  
“You’re an idiot.”  
  
“You’re too cynical.” Nico rolled his eyes.  
  
“Well, Anyway I don’t really care what we do. I just want to finish this.”  
  
Will took a moment to look around Nico’s room. The dorms were all pretty small and only came with two twin beds, two desks, and two closets but they were all allowed to decorate however they wanted as long as they didn’t make any holes in the walls. Nico’s side was pretty bare except for a picture of what Will assumed was his sister and mom and a few posters for bands he didn’t recognize. He saw a few pieces of stray clothes on the floor and saw some paper and books stacked on his desk.  
  
The other side was almost completely bare though. Nothing on the walls and no clothes. If it weren’t for the unmade bed and stack of books Will would have thought no one used it. There was also what looked like a gym bag under the bed that was tucked away.  
  
“Hey, Where is your roommate?” He nodded at the messy bed.  
  
“Oh, He doesn’t really spend any time here. He is usually only here to sleep and he wakes up early.”  
  
“Who is he?” Nico opened his mouth but nothing came out.  
  
After a moment he said “I don’t know. I can’t remember his name.”  
  
“What? How do you not know your roommate’s name?” He was roommates with Cecil and they became friends on the first day. Will knew he was a little more outgoing than Nico but he thought he would still know the name of the guy he’s been sharing a room with since August.  
  
“We don’t talk. I don’t really talk to anyone. No point.” Nico didn’t really look like he felt sad because of that but Will did. Nico actually seemed pretty cool. Will didn’t doubt that Nico could probably make a lot of friends if he wanted. He was about to say so when another thought occurred to him.  
  
“You’re talking to me.” Will felt his smile grow. Nico can say he doesn’t want to make friends but Will can see that the grumpy Italian had warmed up to him in only two days.  
  
“Yeah, Well you aren’t exactly giving me a choice here.” That made Will sigh as he hit his head against the wall. Why couldn’t Nico just admit that he wanted this friendship as much as Will did? Then again maybe he didn’t.  
  
“Aw, come on. I think you like talking with me.” Will kept his eyes closed and just thought for a moment. Nico was fun to talk to. He couldn’t put a finger on what it was exactly what he found in his personality that he found so alluring but it was something. Maybe he just liked making sure he was okay. He just felt like he wanted to be there for him.  
  
Cecil was right. He was the mom friend.  
  
When he opened his eyes Nico was looking at him. Someday he was going to tell him how cute he was when he was blushing. Instead, he decided to leave.  
  
“Well, I guess I should go since we don’t really have anything to do today. See you later, Nico” He made sure to glance back at Nico’s still red face before he left.  
Will thinks this school project might be the best thing that happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote some of this like a year ago and never posted it so now I'm trying to edit and finish it because I just got a burst of random energy.   
> Heres to hoping it lasts. :/


	4. Glad You're Here

Will had stopped caring about his friends" constant teasing. He was just going to deal with it and make sure to return the favor tenfold once one of them came to him about their crush. It was only a matter of time and until then it was sarcastic comments and teasing. 

“I’m just saying he needs someone to make sure he is okay.” 

“And you think playing Romeo and Juliet will do that?”

“You were the one that suggested it!”

“I didn’t think you’d do it” Lou Ellen rolled her eyes but kept her smirk as she ate a piece of her toast.

“I think it’s sweet,” Austin said. “I wish you both luck.”

Will blushed as he took a sip of his juice. “Thanks, I guess.”

“I don’t reawy shee it.” Cecil still had a mouth full of pancakes but that didn’t stop him from talking. “You gush are compesh opishitis” 

“I don’t really get it either.” Will had been trying to figure it out himself. Him and Nico seemed like completely different people but maybe that was just apart of the pull? He was already determined to become friends with him so maybe it didn’t matter. “I just think he could use a friend.”

“A friend who you make out with?” 

“No!” Will brought his hand to his face “Just a friend. We are just friends.” 

“But you obviously want to be more than friends, Will.” Kayla gave him a pitying look. “You can’t just ignore that”

“I’m not ignoring it. I just....” Will thinks back to the blush on Nico’s face yesterday. Maybe he didn’t have to ignore that but it was proving difficult to get Nico to accept his friendship. If he tried making a move now Nico might run away forever. “I don’t know. Just not now. I don’t have to deal with it now.”

“Hey ishn’t shhat him” Cecil pointed a fork over Will’s shoulder. It was Nico. Will caught his eye and started waving him over. He turned back to his friends who were all giving him such cheeky smiles.

“Don’t any of you say anything about what we were just talking about or none of you are getting any birthday presents”

“As long as we get invited to the wedding.” Will gave them all glares as they laughed. He switched back to a smile as he welcomed Nico to the table.

“You made it! I thought I was gonna have to start bringing you daily poptarts.”

“Is this the kid you’ve been talking about all day Solace?” He could see Kayla’s teasing grin and gave her another glare. He wished he had Nico’s fear inspiring glare abilities.

“I was not” He turned back to Nico and started pointing around the table. “Okay, so this is Kayla and Austin, they’re both my half-siblings and that’s Lou Ellen and Cecil. If they try and get you in on any of their stupid ideas just ignore them.” He points back at Nico. “and Everyone this is Nico.” Nico nervously waved and sat next to Will.

“We have been hearing all about you, Nico.” Then she actually winks at Nico and Will doesn’t think he has ever regretted telling his friends anything more. “He has been raving about how grea- Ow” He elbows her before she can go on any longer but she just laughs it off.

“Don’t mind them. They are all just upset that I didn’t eat lunch with them Monday.” 

“Oh we aren’t mad. We completely understand why you abandoned us to go pick up a stray.” Cecil smirks and Will glares. He then turns back to Nico before giving him a genuine smile. “Nice to meet you. We promise we aren’t as bad as Will makes us seem.” 

“Uh, yeah same.” Will looks over and notices how awkward Nico seems. He was probably a little overwhelmed. He didn’t exactly have any time to warn him about his friends before but he didn’t expect Nico to come sit with them either. His friends continued rattling on about random topics but Nico doesn’t say anything. He just stares at his food and slowly starts eating. He is happy to see he doesn’t have to bother him about eating more but he wants him to feel comfortable. Will nudges his arm and smiles at him.

“I’m glad you’re here.” He sees a blush rise on Nico’s cheeks.

“W-well you didn’t give me much of a choice. It’s this or poptarts.” Will resists the urge to strangle the other boy. 

“You always have a choice. I didn’t ask you to come here today but you did.” If Nico actually wanted to stop talking to Will he probably would. I mean Nico was the one to seek him out today. ”You could have just told me to fuck off if you wanted.”

“Well I didn’t.” They both just stare into eachothers eyes for a second and Will feels like his heart skips a beat. “Want to I mean”

“Hey Nico. Don’t you play that card game? What’s it called..um Mythomagic!” Will doesn’t know if he is thankful or irritated by Lou’s interruption. He feels like he could have stared into Nico’s dark eyes forever. “I think I saw you with them once.”

“I uh- I used to. Yeah.” Nico looked away from Will to his plate again.

“You play card games.” Will couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. Nico didn’t seem like the geeky type.

“I played card games. I don’t anymore.”

“Oh why not?” Lou asked “I always kinda wanted to play but I didn’t know anyone else who was into them” Will didn’t really think card games were his thing. He played the occasional video game and was a boss at Operation but not card games.

“I guess I just got bored with it. It’s not that great of a game.”

“Maybe you just weren’t playing with the right people.” Will can see where this is going before she even suggests it. “Oh, I know we should all play together.”

“Sounds fun,” It couldn’t hurt to play at least one game.

“As long as Nico agrees to teach us the rules.” He looks back at Nico.

“Sure. Why not?” Will smiles. Maybe this is how he can get Nico to open up a bit more. 

\---

Today is a good day. At least it is for Will. Nico sat with them at lunch too and he seemed a bit more relaxed. He started talking about that card game again and Will thought he saw him actually smile for once as he was explaining the basics. Geeky Nico was almost as cute as Flustered Nico.

They had just finished eating and Will had asked if he wanted to walk to class together. It would be weird if they didn’t but now they were just walking in silence.   
“So, Mythomagic huh?” He smirked.

“Oh shut up.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. It’s kinda cute to see you talk about something you like.” That last part had slipped out. He hadn’t meant to call him cute but it was worth it to see the red in the other boy’s cheeks.

“I’m not cute.” Will couldn’t help but laugh at that. Nico may wear a scowl for most of the day but he was still one of the cutest people Will knew. Maybe he was a bit biased though. “You’re one to talk. You’re like a walking ray of sunshine.” He stopped walking when he realized what Nico had said. He felt his grin grow wider as he just stood in the middle of the hallway staring at Nico. His face was still red as Nico met his eyes.

“You think I’m cute!” Nico immediately turned away started walking but he didn’t deny it. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard. Maybe he could get Nico to realize how cute Will thought he was.

“Shut up Solace.” Will ran to catch up to him.


	5. The Brightness of Her Cheek Would Shame Those Stars

Will has no idea what came over him. All he knew was that he was now determined to get Nico to play out the balcony scene. He was reveling in the bright blush Nico had turned. He supposed he might feel bad for flustering the other boy so much but it was fun. He liked seeing a flustered Nico. It wasn’t even like the scene had much in it besides flowery language but Nico was still against it.

“We are not doing the balcony scene. We don’t even have to perform. Why don’t we just make a poster instead?” 

“I’m sure we’ll get extra points if we do a scene.” They wouldn’t but it was worth a try.

“We won’t. Let’s make a poster.” Damn it. Will laid back on Nico’s bed and groaned. He was getting nowhere. He was about to give up when he had an idea. He grabbed at his copy of the play beside him and crawled over on the bed so he could look Nico in the eyes.

“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,”

“Will-”

“Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious;”

“This isn’t going to change my mind. You are just wasti-” 

“Her vestal livery is but sick and green  
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.  
It is my lady, O, it is my love!”

“I still don’t see-” He grabbed Nico’s hand and held it closer to his chest. He didn’t know where this bravery had come from but he had no intention of stopping now. Nico’s adorably flustered face was worth any consequences later on.

“O, that she knew she were!  
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?  
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.  
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:  
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,  
Having some business, do entreat her eyes  
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.”

“W-Will, T-this isn’t funny.” It was amazing that he hadn’t messed up any of the lines so far because the look in Nico’s eyes took his breath away. He pushed that aside and focused on his performance. He was glad that he had some experience in acting because he wanted to at least do the text justice. 

“What if her eyes were there, they in her head?  
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,  
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven  
Would through the airy region stream so bright  
That birds would sing and think it were not night.  
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!  
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,  
That I might touch that cheek!”

Will let go of his hand and brushed his thumb on Nico’s cheek. He could feel himself getting lost in Nico’s endless dark eyes. He could feel the heat radiating off him. He wanted to lean in more but he felt how shaky the other boy's hand was as it rested on his shoulder and he thought he saw a flash of fear in his eyes. In a moment of clarity, he let him go and backed off.

“You’re right.” He gave Nico a little teasing smile. “We should just do a poster.” Nico stared at him for a while before he started to glare at the other’s smile.

“You can’t just- What the fuck, Solace!”

“What’s the matter?” Now that he thought about it there were a lot of consequences that were not worth anything. Losing Nico’s friendship was at the top of the list. Nico has seemed a lot more comfortable now that Will had backed off. Even if he was still bright red and yelling at him. 

“Just go get the poster!” Will laughed as Nico threw his copy at his head. He was more comfortable but still pissed. He got up and reached for his bag. 

“See you later Nico,” He was just about to leave when he stuck his head back in once more. He felt a little guilty at how much he had been teasing the other but couldn’t help but add just a bit more.“You know you can still change your mind.” Nico sent him a glare made of pure ice but he just laughed it off as he turned to go back to his own dorm.

He would kiss him next time. For now they had a project to finish.

\---

“Hey, Will!” Will paused as he looked Lou over. She never greeted him like that unless she was planning something. He kissed the idea of a peaceful breakfast next to Nico away. 

“Hey guys. Lou what did you do?”

“What? I say two words to you and you’re already suspecting me?”

“You have that face again and you sound excited. So yes.”

“I haven’t done anything. I’ve just been talking with Nico the entire morning.” Oh fuck.

“Yeah, Solace. Aren’t you being a little paranoid?” Suspicious. Everything is suspicious.

“You just don’t know all of the things she has tried in the past. Her and Cecil are almost as bad as the Stoll brothers.” Will glanced at Lou before turning to eat when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Raising his eyebrows he looked back at Nico.

“W-Well, I for one think you need a little more faith in your friends Will.” It was weird to have Nico initiate any form of contact and although this should be contributing to the overwhelming sense of suspicion currently it was just making Will embarrassed. Stupid. Will Solace is stupid. “Lou was just telling me all about you.” That did it. 

“Telling you….w-what?” There was like a thousand things he definitely didn’t need Lou telling anyone especially Nico. “What did she tell you about me?” 

“What do you think she told me?” Fuckin’ Nico. Will tried to think about anything too embarrassing he might have mentioned to Lou. He couldn’t think of anything but that did not help calm him down.

“Wa- Lou what did you say?” Lou had the nerve to snort at Will’s panicked state. 

“Oh, could you be hiding something from me, Solace?” Nico was teasing him. All of this was terribly cruel. 

“No! What would make you think that!” He supposed this could have been payback for the flustered mess he left Nico in yesterday. If so it certainly did its job Will felt like he was going to melt out of embarrassment.

“You just seem awfully upset.”

“Yeah Solace! What do you think I told him?” Lou smiled. He should have never introduced Nico to these terrors he called his friends.

“Whatever.” Lou would never tell Nico anything that would actually upset him. She was a terror but she was still one of his best friends. Maybe it would be better just to forget it they just seemed to be having fun teasing him. He could still be grumpy about it though. He glared at Lou and took a bite of his breakfast.

Aw fuck.

That was the only thought Will could process as he was sent straight to hell. His face heated up and he spit the traitorous bite out as he panicked looking for something to cool his burning tongue. He swiped the milk offered to him as he heard giggles coming from his traitorous friends. Forget terrors they were devils.

“Here you can have my milk too.” Will glared at the offender but grabbed Cecil’s milk anyway. 

“I hate all of you.” He turned to glare at Lou and Cec before getting to Nico.”And you!” He had expected this from Lou and Cecil but the fact that they got Nico to help was particularly terrible.

“Aw come on Solace. Don’t blame Nico. He didn’t come up with it. He was just doing what we asked.”

“Yeah, blame Cecil.” Will looked between both of them before sighing. 

“Neither of you are getting help with your homework from me ever again.”

“What? But you promised and you know Mr. D already hates me. If I miss another assignment he’ll kill me!”

“Not my problem anymore.”

“Worth it.” Will saw Lou smile and rolled his eyes. He was going to see which parts of his lunch weren’t ruined when he felt Nico nudge his elbow.

“Sorry.” Will softened his gaze a bit. He could see still a bit of a smirk on Nico's face but he did sound a bit genuine and well it was cute. 

“Nah, It’s okay. Cecil’s an idiot.” He glared back over as he heard Cecil try and defend himself. He smiled back at Nico. “Besides I don’t think I could stay angry with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's about it for what I had pre-written. Now let's see if I can Finish A Thing.


	6. Exausted

“What happened?” Lou Ellen was leaning over in her desk and looking at Will with shining curious eyes. It was a few minutes before class and their math teacher Mr. Brunner hadn’t shown up yet.

“What do you mean?” 

“You’re smiling.” 

“I’m always smiling. It’s a good day Lou you should try it.” 

“Yeah, you’re always smiling but it’s different today.” She rolled her eyes and poked him with her pencil. “I’m pretty sure I saw you skipping on your way to class this morning and you seemed pretty distracted at breakfast. You’re practically radiating happiness. It’s like you went from being a ray of sunshine to just the entire sun.” She gestured to all of him like he was going to start glowing at any moment.

“I wasn’t skipping.” Lou scoffed at his weak response.

It was true that he felt happier than normal but he didn’t think it was that obvious. He just felt happy. The sun was out. It was warm. He was doing better in his classes. He got to talk to Nico every day. It was good.

“Nothing happened, really!” Lou Ellen wasn’t going to be satisfied with that answer though. She was still suspiciously staring at him. 

“Was it Nico? Did you guys finally upgrade from friends hopelessly in love with each other to boyfriends hopelessly in love with each other?” Will sighed. “Is that a yes?”

“No, nothing happened. I’m just….happy I guess.”

“Happy about Nico?”

“Yeah, I’m just happy about Nico” She looks him over and then smiled.

“That's sweet, Solace. You should tell him that.” 

She didn’t say anything for the rest of class and if she looked back over at Will he didn’t notice. Instead, he spent the rest of class thinking about Nico. His life really had become a lot happier. The time spent working on their project in Nico’s room had become the best part of his day.

He suddenly felt a little sad when he realized that they might actually be done with it soon. Would Nico still talk to him as much after? He had been pretty reluctant to talk to Will in the first place but they definitely had become closer. They ate their meals together and talked in class (much to Mrs. Flora’s dismay but she seemed to like Nico for some reason so they always got off easy). Nico had just started to really become one of their friend group as well. Nico seemed just as happy around Will as he was. Right? Nico still glared and scowled a lot but he seemed happier. 

The tiny bit of doubt kept gnawing at him. All this worry was probably for nothing but the thought that Nico wouldn’t return his feelings wouldn’t go away. Maybe Nico didn’t like him back as he thought. What if he just went right back to sulking at tables alone not eating as soon as they weren’t required to work together for this stupid project anymore? 

They have only known each other for a week after all. Maybe all that other stuff is just all in his head. 

Maybe he should just talk to Nico.

After the bell rang Will grabbed his bag and ran out the door before Lou Ellen could stop him. He had a few hours before he saw Nico at lunch but he might be able to catch him in the halls if he just adjusted his route a bit. He didn’t know exactly what he would say but maybe just seeing Nico could put an end to all this.

When he turned a corner and saw that familiar messy black hair he couldn’t help but smile. He was about to wave when he noticed that Nico wasn’t looking at him. He was holding what looked like a yearbook and was looking down as he walked slowly down the hall. Will couldn’t really get a good look at his face.

“Nico?” Will felt a bit of panic when he saw Nico’s confused face shoot up to look at him. He had stopped right in front of him and Will could see tears rolling down his face.

“Will? What are you doing here?” Will flinched as he slammed the book closed. He thought he saw some people staring but that didn’t matter right now.

“I was just on my way to class. Are you okay?” He reached up to brush one of his tears away. “You’re crying.” Nico just looked more confused as he wiped at his face with his sleeve.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking.” 

“What about?”

“Nothing.” Nico tucked the book under his arm and walked past him “I have to get to class. See you later.”

Will felt a nervous knot grow tighter in his stomach. He wasn’t worried about if Nico liked him or not he was just worried about Nico now. He obviously didn’t want to talk right now but Will hoped he would later. Whatever was the matter with Nico he wanted to help. Hopefully, Nico would let him.

\---

Nico looked exhausted. He kept yawning and rubbing his eyes. At first, Will just tried focusing on his own work but kept getting distracted by how tired Nico looked. It was obvious he was trying very hard to stay up. It was kinda cute but the constant yawning was getting a bit annoying. 

It was the weekend and Will had come over to Nico’s dorm once again to work on their project. They had got the poster and stuff but apparently, they also had to each write a short essay as well. Will was almost done with his so he leaned over to see what Nico was doing. Nico had typed a lot but it was filled with typos and mistakes. Even if he finished today he would probably have to spend another day just editing it to make sure he didn’t miss any mistakes.

“You know if you’re tired we can take a break” Nico gave him an annoyed look. “Wouldn’t want you to fall asleep in the middle of writing about Toneo and Huliet.” Will pointed down to one of the many typos that Nico had written. Nico rolled his eyes and kept typing.

“Oh, Shut up. Don’t you have your own thing to write?”

“Why are you so tired today?” 

“I just didn’t sleep well. I’ll be fine.” Will sighed. Nico obviously wasn’t fine.

“You should take a nap or something. You look like you’re going to fall over at any moment.”

“I’m fine. I’ll just finish this first.” Nico yawned once again.

“Stupid.” Will mumbled and rolled his eyes. He went back to his own work. Nico had always been sleepy now that Will thought about it. He frequently dozed off in class and always had bags under his eyes. Maybe he had trouble sleeping or maybe this all had something to do with how he was acting yesterday. He still hadn’t told Will anything and he was a little hesitant to ask. He couldn’t help if Nico didn’t want it but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. 

Will was shaken out of his thoughts as he felt a sudden weight on his side. Nico had slumped over and was now resting his head on Will’s shoulder. He had his eyes closed and his lips parted. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Will was used to seeing a permanent scowl on his face but he looked so peaceful right now. There was no way he was going to wake him.

He reached over to close both Nico’s and his laptops while making sure not to wake the other. If Nico was gonna take a break then so could he. It didn’t take long before he drifted off. Although he swore he felt Nico snuggle closer before he fell asleep.

\---

“Wha-oh” Will blinked a few times before he realized where he was. He was still in Nico’s room and he had obviously just woken up.

“Um, Hi.” Someone who seemed vaguely familiar was standing in front of them. He was much taller than Nico with a gym bag swung over his shoulder. Will’s sleepy mind connected the dots and assumed the tall blonde was Nico’s roommate. “I didn’t mean to disturb you two.”

“That’s uh ok.” Will saw Nico blush again and chuckled. For some reason, he didn’t really feel all that embarrassed about this. After all, they were just taking a nap. 

“Hi, I’m Will” Might as well make introductions. He put his hand out for the roommate who eagerly accepted.

“Jason. Nice to meet you.” Will finally realized where he recognized him. Jason was apart of the football team. Will wasn’t one for school sports but he had been to a few games because Austin was apart of the band. He had also been to the infirmary a few times while Will was down there helping out.

“Well, I guess I should go.” He looked back at Nico who was still blushing.”We can finish up tomorrow but you should get some sleep, Nico.” He laughed off the glare he got and reached to get his stuff. He waved before leaving. 

He made his way to his own room and got ready for bed. Hopefully, Nico wouldn’t be so tired tomorrow and maybe he could make some plans for later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might have like one or two more chapters. probably.


End file.
